EXHIBIT 99.1

                                               CONTACT:
                                                       Randi Baldwin
                                                       American Medical Alert
                                                       516.536.5850
                                                               or
                                                       Lester Rosenkrantz
                                                       Cameron Associates
                                                       212.245.8800

           AMERICAN MEDICAL ALERT CORPORATION COMPLETES $2.73 MILLION
                            PRIVATE EQUITY PLACEMENT

NEW YORK - April 22, 2002 -American  Medical Alert  Corporation  (Nasdaq:  AMAC)
today  announced that it completed a private  equity  placement of the Company's
common stock and warrants, for total aggregate proceeds of $2.73 million. SAFECO
Growth  Opportunities  Fund and SAFECO Growth  Opportunities  Portfolio were the
lead institutional investors purchasing approximately 77% of the placement.

Several investors purchased an aggregate of 910,000 shares of AMAC Common Stock,
at $3.00 per share,  and  warrants  to  purchase  227,500  shares of AMAC Common
Stock,  exercisable  at $3.80  per  share.  The  securities  sold  have not been
registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,  and may not be offered
or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from
registration requirements.

AMAC plans to utilize a majority  of the  proceeds  of this  offering to further
execute its business  expansion  and  diversification  strategy  into the remote
patient monitoring and medical contact center industries, including its recently
announced  initiative to develop a next  generation  PERS  appliance that blends
emergency response with remote biometric and disease management  monitoring into
a single, cost effective system.

ABOUT AMERICAN MEDICAL ALERT CORP.

AMAC is a nationwide provider of medical response monitoring and 24-hour on-call
services to assist the  healthcare  community in providing  clients with instant
access to assistance from trained  professionals.  AMAC is vertically integrated
with involvement in all phases of service delivery  including product design and
development, manufacturing and testing, field service and 24-hour monitoring.

The H-LINK(R) service platform has enabled AMAC to begin its transformation from
a single  product  and service  line to a  comprehensive  portfolio  of personal
health  appliances  and  communication  services  that meet the growing needs of
patients and providers.

This press release contains forward-looking  statements that involve a number of
risks and  uncertainties.  Important  factors that could cause actual results to
differ  materially from those  indicated by such forward looking  statements are
set forth in AMAC's filings with the Securities and Exchange  Commission  (SEC),



including AMAC's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB,  it's Quarterly  Reports on Forms
10-QSB, and other filings and releases.  These include uncertainties relating to
competition,  technological development,  government regulation, dependence upon
key customers and availability of financing.

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